The Ties that Bind

by the7Saviors


An Enemy Approaches

The morning had been relatively uneventful so far.

Ancient Scroll had spent some of the morning helping the fillies with their studies, but soon left to do other mundane tasks that needed doing and left them to independently study the material on their own.

Rouge had opted to remain in the sitting room whiling away the hours with a book. Yojimbo was splayed out on his own cot -- the sound of his surprisingly soft snores filling the sitting room.

He himself had chosen to sleep in that morning and with several more hours of tedious travel through the forest left to go, no one complained. With little else to do themselves, the fillies continued their studies as Ancient Scroll had told them to.

Both Fia and Corona had noticed Blue Moon acting oddly all morning. It was nothing overt, but every once in a while they would catch the filly staring off into space or muttering to herself. Whenever they had asked however, the light blue filly would just wave their concerns away dismissively, stating there was nothing wrong.

It was about half an hour after Ancient Scroll had left the room that Corona had finally decided to confront Blue Moon about her strange behavior. She had her suspicions, and she decided now was the time to voice them.

"So, Blue Moon," Corona began, eyeing the filly carefully from where she lay on the cot, "have you been hearing that voice at all since the last time you told us about it?"

"Blue Moon hasn't heard a thing," the light blue filly replied from the desk where she was reading, "in fact, she's starting to wonder if it really was just her imagination."

"Are you sure?" Corona pressed, "because I heard you talking in your sleep last night."

Blue Moon tensed and Fia looked up from the notes she was taking with a curious frown. Corona ignored the reaction as she continued.

"I woke up to use the bathroom and when I came back into the room, I heard you muttering something about a voice," Corona explained, "I couldn't understand the rest, but I definitely heard something about a voice."

Blue Moon remained silent.

Fia furrowed her brow and set her quill on the desk as she focused all her attention on the suddenly quiet filly.

"Blue Moon," Fia asked warily, "did you actually... see the pony that voice belonged to in your dream?"

More silence from the light blue filly.

"Blue Moon," Corona continued with a concerned frown, "I know we agreed to give you some space and let you tell us about your issues when you were ready, but if there's actually somepony out there speaking in your head and telling you to do things--"

"It was the Mare of Dreams."

Fia blinked in surprise and turned to Corona. The two exchanged confused looks before turning back to Blue Moon.

"Mare... of Dreams?" Fia asked with a raised eyebrow, "that's what the voice called itself? Sounds like something out of an old ponytale story."

Blue Moon shook her head and finally turned to face the other two.

"It's not," she argued, "she's real, and--"

There was a loud yet muffled whump and the three of them yelped in surprise, stumbling a bit as they felt the Vardo lurch to a sudden stop.

"What was that all about?" Fia asked in bewilderment, "what's Uncle Scroll doing?"

"I don't know," Corona replied as she hopped off the slightly raised cot, "but I suddenly have a bad feeling."

Blue Moon nervously looked between the other two fillies and rose from the low seat at the desk. She was somewhat grateful for the distraction, but for the most part, the sudden stop made her worry.

"Maybe we should just let Uncle Scroll take care of whatever it is?" she suggested, "we may have just hit a large rock or something,"

"No, I don't think so," Corona replied, making her way towards the door, "I think it might be something else, come on."

With that, she pulled the door open and stepped out of the room, Fia following right behind her. Blue Moon watched them go with a worried expression for a moment before finally trotting out after them both.


Ancient Scroll was completely baffled by this sudden turn of events.

Baffled, but not caught off guard thankfully.

He had finished cleaning the dishes only moments ago and came out here onto the platform to take in the peaceful forest passing him by. The part of the forest they were traveling through had thinned out and he could clearly see the sky.

His gaze happened to drift towards that sky just in time to see a dark shape rushing towards the caravan at a blinding speed. Old as he was, Ancient Scroll's mind was still just as sharp as any younger unicorn -- sharper even.

His physical reflexes may not have been what they used to be, but his mental and magical reflexes were a completely different story. The instant he realized what was about to happen his horn flared to life.

Speed Casting was something Ancient Scroll excelled at.

All of his other skills involving magic were honed from years of both extensive study and practical application during his numerous and often deadly adventures. Speed Casting however, was something he was naturally gifted with, but rarely used when he didn't have to.

It was extremely draining when used in excess and left him tired and vulnerable after a certain amount of time. Regardless, in his quick thinking, he drew upon his gift and in a single moment, cut off the Come-to-Life spell while almost simultaneously throwing up a partially formed Pure Barrier spell around the front of the Vardo.

The shield went up just in time to catch the heavy impact of what the old stallion was surprised to see was a hoof. He grit his teeth and grunted as the blow landed, the sheer force reverberating through his mind.

He shook his head and glared at the attacker as they backed off and landed several yards away. His glare turned to a look of shock as he registered who the attacking pony was. Standing directly in the caravan's path was a familiar dark green pegasus mare -- her face a mask of cold determination.

"Damnation," the stallion muttered, his glare returning, "this isn't good."

His ear twitched at the sound of multiple doors opening at once within the Vardo.

"What in Tartarus was that, Scroll?" Yojimbo cried irritably, "nearly knocked me off the cot--"

"We got trouble, Yoji," Ancient Scroll interjected, not taking his eyes off the slowly approaching pegasus, "you and Rouge take care of the fillies."

"What's going on, Uncle Scroll?" Corona asked worrriedly, "we're not being attacked or something, are we?"

"Yes we are, now all of you go back to your rooms and stay with Rouge and Yojimbo."

"Wait hang on," Fia cried in a panic, "who is it? Who's attacking? It's not the Razor Twins, is it?"

"It's that Wild Evergreen mare," Ancient Scroll replied distractedly -- his attention still focused on the mare nearing the platform, "no more questions, just go!"

Before any of them could protest, Yojimbo scooped them all up and headed back into the room. Rouge went to follow after, but stopped in the doorway and turned to the old stallion one last time.

"Be careful, Scroll," she warned, "if that impact was anything to go by, she isn't a normal pegasus."

"You're telling me," Ancient Scroll muttered, "mare hits harder than some of the burlier earth ponies I've met in my time..." he shook his head and glanced at the concerned Abyssinian, "don't worry about me, Rouge, I can handle the mare. Just make sure the fillies stay safe."

Rouge nodded and retreated into the room with the rest of the group. Ancient Scroll turned back to the mare and sighed in resignation.

"Well, I'm a bit out of practice, but..."

With a grunt, he leapt over the railing and landed on the ground in front of the platform. As he moved to meet the pegasus mare his horn once again flashed and a shimmering white barrier enveloped the caravan once more.

"You're the mare that was helping out the townsfolk back in Little Trot," Ancient Scroll called out, stopping a couple of yards away from the dark green pegasus, "Wild Evergreen, right?"

"Not important, old timer," the mare replied , "I know you have the filly I'm looking for hidden away in there. Give her up or I'm taking her by force."

"Oh come on now, girl," Ancient Scroll replied with a scoff, "I may be an old timer, but even I know that line never works. And besides, what makes you think I have the filly you're looking for anyway?"

"I'd say your reaction makes it pretty clear," Wild Evergreen retorted, trotting closer to the stallion.

"You attacked my caravan unprovoked," Ancient Scroll answered, taking a few careful steps back, "of course I was going to defend myself and those under my care. There are foals in there, Miss Evergreen."

"Fair enough, but I know for a fact she's in there, Ancient Scroll," the pegasus mare replied with a vicious smirk, "and from what I've heard you've been taking good care of her," she shook her head, "real nice of ya to do, but your job's over now."

Ancient Scroll grimaced and cursed inwardly. Nevertheless he let the mare speak as he shifted his stance slightly.

"I don't know how you managed to disguise her so well, but seeing as how I'm not a unicorn, I don't really give a buck about the details," she stopped a few hoof-lengths away from the stallion and absently pawed the ground a few times, "either way, I'm taking Twilight Sparkle, and if I have to smash your skull in to do it, I will."

The old stallion chuckled slightly before giving the mare a grim frown. His eyes flashed dangerously and his horn sparked and chirped with the beginnings of a powerful spell.

"The filly stays with me, Miss Evergreen."